Hunted
by Cyar Skirata
Summary: A young pegasus mare with no memory of her past, but just who is it that hunts her?
1. Prologue

Rain pelted the terrified young mare as she ran, her pale blue hooves churning the mud, slowing her gait. Her soaked wings weighed her down and her brown mane was plastered to her face and shoulders.

Her indigo eyes flicked to the side as she glanced behind her. She couldn't see her pursuers, but they were there... somewhere, she knew it.

Her vision was cut rather short by the haze the rain created, and she only just saw the short wooden fence in time to scramble over it, falling face-first in the mud on the other side.

Dragging herself to her hooves, she picked up her pace again. After that came several uneventful minutes during which she picked up a little more speed in the shelter of some forest, or maybe an orchard, she wasn't sure.

Breaking the cover of the trees, she pressed on through the pounding rain for a minute or so more, before looking back at just the wrong time. As she checked behind her, she slammed into the wall of a red, wooden building, though she was too dazed to tell the colour as she fell back, stumbling before collapsing sideways in the mud.

Before her eyes drifted shut, she caught the blurry sight of a very large stallion running into her field of vision, an expression of concern barely discernible on her blurry view of his face.


	2. Waking Eyes

The world spun as the mare's eyes tried to open. She groaned and placed a hoof on her forehead, but as she tried to get to her hooves she was held gently down.

"Don't try ta move." A deep, reassuring voice told her. "Ya hit yer head real hard."

The pegasus' wings twitched against the ground, her eyes darting around at the blurry images surrounding her, and between her lips escaped a barely breathed question.

"Wh-Where am I?" She paused, then realised in panic that she had a far more serious inquiry. "Who am I!?"

Her second question stunned him before he could answer the first.

"Ah... Ah'm sorry ah... Ah don't know."

The confused, scared and now crestfallen mare cast her eyes down as she tried again to clear her gaze. Images did eventually start to sharpen, and her ears twitched as that deep voice spoke again.

"Well miss... ah'm Big Macintosh, an' ah want ta help ya, but ya need ta take it easy before we try anythin' important. That was a nasty hit ya took out there, ah'd hate ta see ya git yerself hurt any worse."

She sighed, eyes directed down. "D-D'you have any food?" She murmoured, voice quiet with nerves, but she was pleasantly surprised as he put a rain hood over her and knelt to let her onto his back, smiling as he spoke.

"Sure, but ya ain't gettin' yerself soaked again, yer not even dry from before yet."

She weakly climbed onto his back, Mac shifting his position a little to help, until he could safely stand up to leave the barn.

She sighed, preparing herself for this rain, but the instant he opened the door she was reduced to cowering under the hood, and clinging tightly to his back. This was going to feel like a long trip...

Sorry for giving you another short one, and for the complete lack of any formatting. I hope some day to have something better than a blackberry for writing.


	3. Hunters

"Are ya doin' okay back there?" Big Mackintosh called back, forced to shout over the pounding rain for the pegasus on his back to hear him.

He found himself getting worried when he didn't hear her reply, and looking back all he saw was the coat that covered her, but he told himself she probably just wasn't loud enough.

Looking ahead, he pressed on through the downpour, unable to see more than ten feet ahead. "The pegasi should get their act together..." He muttered to himself under his breath.

Trudging on, only able to judge his direction by following a fence, he thought he saw movement ahead. "Hello!? Is somepony there!?" He yelled, receiving a response he couldn't make out.

Two figures slowly became visible as they waited for his approach, two average sized stallions stood there, but it was hard to make out the colours of the pair.

One appeared to be an earth pony, and the other a unicorn. "Hello there!" The earth pony called out.

Big Mac stopped in front of them. "What're you fellas doin' here?" He asked, eyes narrowed slightly in suspicion.

"No need for alarm sir, we're looking for a fugitive. A serious crime, but not dangerous." The unicorn explained, his voice straining to be heard over the rain.

"What'd this pony do?" The farm pony asked in reply, to which both stallions shook their heads.

"We can't tell you that."

"Then ahm afraid ah have ta ask ya ta leave."

The two shifted uncomfortably. This huge stallion's glare was rather intimidating, even if they did outnumber him.

"If I might ask, sir, what's under the coat?" The unicorn asked, his voice actually dropping out several times as though he couldn't maintain such a volume.

The farm pony just shook his head once, his eyes darting to the side in a gesture of dismissal after he uttered a single word, his own lowered voice just loud enough to hear.

"Nope."

The pegasus was confused, scared even. 'Why had they stopped? Who were those voices?' Trembling both from nerves and the cold, she lifted her head and tried to see out from under the coat.

"Who's that?" The earth pony asked, trying to return the larger stallion's glare.

"A farm hoof." Mac was surprised at how quickly the lie left his lips. He wasn't quite sure why he said it, but he suspected that these two were after her, so he shifted his back to keep her from poking her head out, covering it with a sigh that could easily have been annoyance. 'No going back now, he was only the brother of the element of honesty anyway.'

"She got herself hurt by a branch before the storm, ah had ta come find her." With that, he stepped past them and continued toward the house.

"You expect us to-" The unicorn didn't even get to finish his protest before he was answered.

"Eyup."

Sorry for another short chapter. I really need to get reliable access to a proper computer.


	4. Flickering Hope

"No! We're not goin' out there!" Applejack insisted, standing between Apple Bloom and the door. "Big Mac knows what ta do, he'll be in the barn right now takin' shelter from the storm."

At that inopportune moment, the red coated stallion opened the door and hurried in, kicking it shut behind him and glancing at his stunned sisters.

"An' what in tarnation are ya doin' here!?" Applejack demanded, being the first to find her voice. "Ah thought we agreed you were gon' hide in the barn if the storm caught ya! It's been rainin' fer hours!"

Her brother shrugged and simply provided a "Eyup." as he knelt to let his shivering passenger disembark, which she did with a rather graceless roll, landing on her back with a splash from her saturated fur and mane.

"Wha... Who's this?" AJ seemed to forget about the previous issue.

"Ah don't know." He replied.

"She didn't tell you?" Apple Bloom questioned.

Mac shrugged.

"Hey." The blonde mare's voice softened as she stooped to bring herself closer to the pegasus' level. "Can you look at me?"

Her attention was caught by her brother as he lifted a hoof to his head, lightly hitting himself and letting his eyes go a little off for a moment. AJ got the message. 'Concussion... Darn.'

Voices surrounded the mare as she tried to turn her gaze, a confusing mass of words echoing in her ears until one of the ponies spoke close enough to her that she could pick out what they said. She hesitated more due to disorientation than anything else, but slowly managed to turn her head towards the voice, her eyes settling on the tan face before her. This pony seemed worried, like Big Mac had been. It comforted the pegasus somewhat, as the freckled face slowly came into focus, that she was with ponies who cared about her.

"Can ya hear what ahm sayin'? Jus' nod if ya can." AJ was quickly answered with the nod she requested, so she smiled a little. The least she could do for the scared and confused mare was reassure her.

It was Apple Bloom who spoke next. "Do ya have any idea where ya are? Any words for it at all?"

The pegasus needed far too long to think, but eventually the word "Equestria" passed her trembling lips.

That was a start at least. "Good." AJ nodded, flashing her little sister a congratulatory little smile. "Do any other words come to mind?"

The blue mare thought long and hard on that one, finding herself briefly distracted by Granny Smith's condescending gaze as the old mare walked through the room.

"Sump'n don't smell right about this'n." She muttered as she passed, leaving the Apple siblings to watch her with confusion of their own.

Well, for the few people who may - however unlikely - have been waiting for it, here's the next chapter.


End file.
